by Linda Howard
He banked the fire while she got the tent ready. They brushed their teeth and made one last nature call, just like old married folks, she thought in amusement. Their “home” wasn’t much, really nothing more than a niche in the rock, but their preparations for the night struck her as very domestic—until he said, “Do you want to wear my shirt tonight? It would be more like a nightgown on you than the shirt you’re wearing.”
There was nothing the least bit tamed in the way he was looking at her. Her heartbeat picked up in speed, and the now familiar heat began spreading through her. That was all he had to do, she thought; one look and she was aroused. He had taught her body well during the short time she had been sprawled beneath him on the blanket. Now that she knew exactly how it felt to take his hard length inside her, she craved the sensation. She wanted that convulsive peak of pleasure, even though it had frightened her with its intensity. She hadn’t realized she would feel as if she were flying apart, as if her soul was being wrenched from her body. In a blinding, paralyzing moment of clarity, she knew that no other man in the world would be able to do that for her, to her. He was the One for her, capital O, big letter, underlined and italicized. The One. She would never again be whole without him.
She must have looked stricken, because suddenly he was by her side, supporting her with an arm around her waist as he gently but inexorably guided her to the tent. He would be considerate, she realized, but he didn’t intend to be refused.
She cleared her throat, searching for her equilibrium. “You’ll need your shirt to keep warm—”
“You’re joking, right?” He smiled down at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Or did you think we were through for the night?”
She couldn’t help smiling back. “That never crossed my mind. I just thought you’d need it afterward.”
“I don’t think so,” he said, his hands busy unsnapping her jeans.
They were both naked and inside the tent in record time. He switched off the flashlight to save the batteries, and the total darkness closed around them, just as it had the night before. Making love when one was going totally by feel somehow heightened the other senses, she found. She was aware of the calluses on his hands as he stroked her, of the heady male scent of his skin, of the powerful muscles that bunched under her own exploring hands. His taste filled her; his kisses were a feast. She reveled in the smooth firmness of his lips, the sharp edges of his teeth; she rubbed his nipples and felt them contract under her fingers. She loved the harsh groan he gave when she cupped the soft, heavy sacs between his legs, and the way they tightened even as she held them.
She was shocked when she closed her hand around his pulsing erection. How on earth had she ever taken him inside her? The long, thick column ended in a smooth, bulbous flare, the tip of which was wet with fluid. Entranced, she curled down until she could take the tip in her mouth and lick the fluid away.
He let out an explosive curse and tumbled her on her back, reversing their positions. The confines of the small tent restricted their movement, but he managed the shift with his usual powerful grace.
She laughed, full of wonder at the magic between them, and draped her arms around his neck as he settled on top of her. “Didn’t you like it?”
“I almost came,” he growled. “What do you think?”
“I think I’ll have my way with you yet. I may have to overpower you and tie you up, but I think I can handle the job.”
“I’m positive of it. Let me know when you’re going to overpower me, so I can have my clothes off.”
That afternoon, caught in the whirlpool of his lovemaking, she wouldn’t have believed she would be so at ease with him now, that they could indulge in this sensual teasing. She wouldn’t have believed how naturally her thighs parted to accommodate his hips, or how comfortable it was, as if nature had designed them to fit together just so. Actually nature had; she just hadn’t realized it until now.
He gave her a taste of her own medicine, kissing his way down her body until his hair brushed the insides of her thighs and she discovered a torture so sweet she shattered. When she could breathe again, when the colored pinpoints of light stopped flashing against her closed eyelids, he kissed her belly and laid his head on the pillowing softness. “My God, you’re easy,” he whispered.
She managed a strangled sound that was almost a laugh. “I guess I am. For you, anyway.”
“Just for me.” The dark tones of masculine possessiveness and triumph underlaid the words.
“Just for you,” she whispered in agreement.
He put on a condom and slid into place between her thighs. She fought back a cry; she was sore and swollen, and he was big. He moved gently back and forth until she accepted him more easily and the discomfort faded, but gradually his thrusts quickened, became harder. Even then she sensed he was holding himself back to keep from hurting her. When he climaxed, he pulled back so only half his length was inside her, and held himself there while shudders racked his strong body.
Afterward, he tugged his T-shirt on over her head, immediately enveloping her in his scent. The roomy garment came halfway to her knees—or it would have if he hadn’t bunched it around her waist. He cradled her in his arms, one big hand on her bare bottom to keep her firmly against him. He used her rolled-up cardigan for a pillow, and she used him. Oh, this was wonderful.
“Is Sunny your real name, or is it a nickname?” he asked sleepily, his lips brushing her hair.
Even as relaxed as she was, as sated, a twinge of caution made her hesitate. She never told anyone her real name. It took her a moment to remember that none of that made any difference here now. “It’s a nickname,” she murmured. “My real name is Sonia, but I’ve never used it. Sonia Ophelia Gabrielle.”
“Good God.” He kissed her. “Sunny suits you. So you’re saddled with four names, huh?”
“Yep. I never use the middle ones, though. What about you? What’s your middle name?”
“I don’t have one. It’s just Chance.”
“Really? You aren’t lying to me because it’s something awful, like Eustace?”
“Cross my heart.”
She settled herself more comfortably against him. “I suppose it balances out. I have four names, you have two—together, we average three.”
“How about that.”
She could hear a smile in his voice now. She rewarded him with a small, sneaky pinch that made him jump. His retaliation ended, a long time later, in the use of another condom.
Sunny went to sleep to the knowledge that she was happier now, with Chance, than she had ever before been in her life.
Chapter 9
The next morning the traps were empty. Sunny struggled with her disappointment. After such an idyllic, pleasure-filled night, the day should have been just as wonderful. A nice hot, filling breakfast would have been perfect.
“Could you shoot something?” she asked as she chewed half of one of the tasteless nutrition bars. “We have eight of these bars left.” If they each ate a bar a day, that meant they would be out of food in four days.
In three days, Margreta would call.
Sunny pushed that thought away. Whether or not they got out of here in time for her to answer Margreta’s call was something she couldn’t control. Food was a more immediate problem.
Chance narrowed his eyes as he scanned the rim of the canyon, as if looking for a way out. “I have fifteen rounds in the pistol, and no extra cartridges. I’d rather save them for emergencies, since there’s no telling how long we’ll be here. Besides, a 9mm bullet would tear a rabbit to pieces and wouldn’t leave enough left of a bird for us to eat. Assuming I could hit a bird with a pistol shot, that is.”
She wasn’t worried about his marksmanship. He was probably much better with a rifle, but with his military background, he would be more than competent with the pistol. She looked down at her hands. “Would a .38 be better?”
“It isn’t as powerful, so for small game, yeah, it would be better. Not great
, but better—but I have a 9mm, so it’s a moot point.”
“I have one,” she said softly.
His head whipped around. Something dangerous flashed in his eyes. “What did you say?”
She nodded toward her bag. “I have a .38.”
He looked in the direction of her gaze, then back at her. His expression was like flint. “Would you like to tell me,” he said very deliberately, “just how you happen to have a pistol of any kind with you? You were on a commercial flight. How did you get past the scanners?”
She didn’t like giving away all her secrets, not even to Chance. A lifetime on the run had ingrained caution into her very bones, and she had already given him more of herself than she ever had anyone else. Still, they were in this together. “I have some special containers.”
“Where?” he snapped. “I saw you unpack everything in your bag and there weren’t any—ah, hell. The hair spray can, right?”
Unease skittered along her spine. Why was he angry? Even if he was a stickler for rules and regulations, which she doubted, he should be glad they had an extra weapon, no matter how they came by it. She straightened her shoulders. “And the blow-dryer.”
He stood over her like an avenging angel, his jaw set. “How long have you been smuggling weapons on board airplanes?”
“Every time I’ve flown,” she said coolly, standing up. She was damned if she would let him tower over her as if she was a recalcitrant child. He still towered over, just not as much. “I was sixteen the first time.”
She walked over to the bag and removed the pertinent items. Chance leaned down and snagged the can of spray from her hands. He took the cap off and examined the nozzle, then pointed it away from him and depressed it. A powder-fine mist of spray shot out.
“It’s really hair spray,” she said. “Just not much of it.” She took the can and deftly unscrewed the bottom. A short barrel slid out of the can into her hands. Putting it aside, she lifted the hair-dryer and took it apart with the same deft twist, yielding the remaining parts of the pistol. She assembled it with the ease of someone who had done the task so often she could do it in her sleep, then fed the cartridges into the magazine, snapped it into place, reversed the pistol and presented it to him butt-first.
He took it, his big hand almost swallowing the small weapon. “What in hell are you doing with a weapon?” he bit out.
“The same thing you are, I imagine.” She walked away from him and missed the look of shock that crossed his face. With her back to him she said, “I carry it for self-protection. Why do you carry yours?”
“I charter my plane to a lot of different people, most of whom I don’t know. I fly into some isolated areas sometimes. And my weapon is licensed.” He hurled the words at her like rocks. “Is yours?”
“No,” she said, unwilling to lie. “But I’m a single woman who travels alone, carrying packages valuable enough that a courier service is hired to deliver them. The people I deliver the packages to are strangers. Think about it. I’d have to be a fool not to carry some means of protection.” That was the truth, as far as it went.
“If your reason for carrying is legitimate, then why don’t you have a license?”
She felt as if she were being interrogated, and she didn’t like it. The tender, teasing lover of the night was gone, and in his place was someone who sounded like a prosecutor.
She had never applied for a license to carry a concealed weapon because she didn’t want any background checks in the national data system, didn’t want to bring herself to the notice of anyone in officialdom.
“I have my reasons,” she retorted, keeping her tone very deliberate.
“And you aren’t going to tell me what they are, right?” He threw her a look that was almost sulfuric in its fury and stalked off in the direction of the traps. His stalking, like everything else he did, was utterly graceful—and completely silent.
“Good riddance, Mr. Sunshine,” she hurled at his back. It was a childish jab, but she felt better afterward. Sometimes a little childishness was just what the doctor ordered.
With nothing better to do, she set off in the opposite direction, toward the plane, to gather more sticks and twigs for the all-important fire. If he tried to keep her pistol when they got out of here—and they would get out, she had to keep hoping—then it would be war.
Chance examined the compact pistol in his hand. It was unlike any he had ever seen before, for the simple reason that it hadn’t come from any manufacturer. A gunsmith, a skilled one, had made this weapon. It bore no serial number, no name, no indication of where or when it was made. It was completely untraceable.
He couldn’t think of any good reason for Sunny to have it, but he could think of several bad ones.
After yesterday, he had been more than halfway convinced she was innocent, that she was in no way involved with her father. Stupid of him, but he had equated chastity with honor. Just because a woman didn’t sleep around didn’t mean she was a fine, upstanding citizen. All it meant was that, for whatever reason, she hadn’t had sex.
He knew better. He was far better acquainted with the blackness of the human soul than with its goodness, because he had chosen to live in the sewers. Hell, he came from the sewers; he should be right at home there, and most of the time he was. The blackness of his own soul was always there, hidden just a few layers deep, and he was always aware of it. He used to make his way in the dangerous world he had chosen, shaped it into a weapon to be used in defense of his country and, ultimately, his family. And being on such intimate terms with hell, with the twisted evil humans could visit on one another, he should know that golden hair and bright, sparkling eyes didn’t necessarily belong on an angel. Shakespeare had hit the nail on the head when he warned the world against smiling villains.
It was just—damn it, Sunny got to him. She had slipped right past defenses he would have sworn were impregnable, and she had done it so easily they might as well not have been there at all. He wanted her, and so he had almost convinced himself that she was innocent.
Almost. There was just too much about her that didn’t add up, and now there was this untraceable pistol that she smuggled on board airplanes, concealed in some very effective but simple containers. Airport scanners would show metal, but if a security guard was suspicious enough to check, he or she would find only the normal female styling aids. The hair spray can actually sprayed, and he didn’t doubt the blow-dryer would work, too.
If Sunny could get a pistol on board a plane, then others could, too. He went cold at the thought of how many weapons must be flying around at any given time. Airport security wasn’t his line of work, but damn if he wasn’t going to make it a point to kick some asses over this.
He shoved his anger aside so he could concentrate on this assignment. He hoped he hadn’t blown it by losing his temper with her, but his disillusionment had been too sharp for him to contain. The pleasure of the night they had just spent together should more than outweigh their first argument. Her inexperience with men worked against her; she would be easy to manipulate, where a seasoned veteran of the mattress wars would be more wary and blasé about their lovemaking. He still held all the trump cards, and soon he would be playing them.
He reached a particular point in the canyon and positioned himself so he was in the deepest morning shadows. Sunny couldn’t catch him unawares here, and he had a clear line of sight to a certain rock on the rim of the canyon. He took a laser light from his pocket, a pencil-thin tube about two inches long that, when clicked, emitted an extraordinarily bright finger of light. He aimed it at the rock on the rim and began clicking, sending dashes of light in the code he and Zane had agreed on at the beginning of the plan. Every day he signalled Zane, both to let him know that everything was all right and that they shouldn’t be rescued yet.
There was an answering flash, message received. No matter how closely he watched that rock, he never saw any movement, though he knew Zane would have immediately pulled back. He himself was damn g
ood at moving around undetected, but Zane was extraordinary even for a SEAL. There was no one else on this earth Chance would rather have beside him in a fight than Zane.
That mission accomplished, Chance settled down in some cover where he could watch the trickle of water. Since the traps hadn’t been productive overnight, he really did need to shoot something for supper. He was willing to starve to achieve his ends—but only if he had to. If a bunny rabbit showed its face, it was history.
As Sunny walked the canyon floor, picking up what sticks she could find, she studied the rock walls, looking for a fissure that might have escaped notice, an animal trail, anything that might point the way to freedom. If they only had some rock-climbing gear, she thought wistfully. A rope, cleats, anything. She had tried to anticipate any possible need when she packed her bag, but somehow being trapped in a box canyon hadn’t occurred to her.
For the most part, the walls were perpendicular. Even when they slanted a little, the angle wasn’t much off ninety degrees. Erosion from wind and rain had, over millions of years, cut grooves in the rock that looked like ripples in water. The only sign the canyon wasn’t impregnable was the occasional little heap of rubble where smaller rocks had crumbled and fallen.
She had passed several of those small heaps before the light went on.
A fragile stirring of hope made her stomach tighten as she investigated one scattered pile of rock. It looked as if a larger boulder had fallen from the rim and shattered on impact. She picked up a fist-sized rock and rubbed her thumb over the surface, finding it gritty, the texture of sandpaper. Sandstone, she thought. It was a lovely pink color. It was also soft.
Just to be certain, she banged the rock down on a larger rock, and it broke into several pieces.
This site was no good; it was too steep. She walked along the wall, looking up at the rim and trying to find a place where the wall slanted back just a little. That was all she asked; just a little slant, enough that the angle wasn’t so extreme.